Gold Medalist Matt Duchene Wants Avs To ‘Take Off’ Following Break

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DENVER (CBS4) – The Colorado Avalanche will get back on the ice Wednesday evening against the Los Angeles Kings and all four Avs Olympians will be on the ice, including the two who brought home medals.

There’s gold medalist and proud Canadian Matt Duchene, a native of Ontario. And there’s the silver medal around the neck of Swedish Captain Gabriel Landeskog.

Sweden lost to Canada in the Olympic final, which was the biggest hockey game those two have ever played.

“It’s the best moment of my career so far. That, along with being drafted by the Avs, for sure, my top two,” Duchene said. “I think the biggest thing I’m taking away from that is just being around all those winners, those Stanley Cup champions.

“I feel like I grew up another couple of years and learned a lot more as a player. It makes me (hungrier) to win a Stanley Cup now.”

“We were obviously disappointed, and in the heat of the moment right after the game it’s tough to really appreciate what had happened,” Landeskog said. “But I think it’s something that now, a few days later, and as time goes along here, I think it’s something I’ll appreciate even more.”

It’s the final stretch for the NHL season as there are only 24 games left. Duchene said the Avs can’t be satisfied with how well they played before the Olympic break.

“Never be satisfied, get better every day, every practice, every game. We have to have that mentality here,” Duchene said. “It’s more of a marathon here and we’ve got 24 games left. It’s a lot of games but it’s going to go by quick though and we’ve got to make the best of it and solidify ourselves in a playoff spot.”

He said there are going to be teams that hit speed bumps coming out of the break.

“And there are going to be teams that take off, and we want to be one of those teams that take off.”